


The White Zora

by n0t_bess1e_b4ss_0n_the_b4ss



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blood and Gore, Brother-Sister Relationships, F/M, Found Family, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sheik and Sidon.....good kids, Sheik can’t swim lmao, Sheik is a Separate Character, Sheik is a girl, Sidon literally outs Sheik on being a lesbian aldjwkdha, Trauma, Zora!Sheik, Zora!Sheik?, Zoras can PINECONE!!!!!!!, he’s like ‘yeah u gay b’
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-14 17:53:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18953026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/n0t_bess1e_b4ss_0n_the_b4ss/pseuds/n0t_bess1e_b4ss_0n_the_b4ss
Summary: It was scary. Obviously. The body was on the path to their tribe, which was only a fourth of a mile away from Zora’s Domain. A long blood smear meant the body was dragged quite the distance before the killer gave up and left. So was this victim killed in the Domain and then taken all the way out here or were they lead away first?The sound of pebbles scattering and a grunt of pain caused all of the guards to leap into a defensive stance with their spears raised. They created a barrier around the two heirs, flaring their gills and preparing to strike at the slightest sign of danger.Footsteps. Someone or something was approaching.When it turned the corner, they all saw a Zora clutching at their shoulder.A Zora the color of pure snow.—or: A mangy desert teenager is commissioned to kill a fish prince but ends up being basically adopted by his tribe





	The White Zora

Sidon couldn’t help but grimace when he looked down at the headless Zora corpse lying at his feet. The body was still warm- this murder was recent.

“What do you think did it?” Gruve, one of his guards, asked. He’s more fidgety than the prince himself, but a decapitated member of your tribe would make anyone anxious. “Or WHO?”

“That’s a clean slice,” Bazz nodded at the oozing neck, “Whoever they were, they knew what they were doing.”

Gruve does a full-body cringe at the mere thought of the decapitation process. Dunma shakes her head and extends her spear, blocking Mipha from getting any closer to the body. The princess wrinkled her nose, but didn’t say anything about the gesture.

“I can’t tell who it is,” She said. “Not without the...head.”

The scales were a washed out red color with the regular cream underbelly, and decorative chains and metal plates adorned the torso, but that didn’t help reveal the identity. This could be anyone in the clan.

“Speaking of which, has anyone found it?”

They all shook their heads.

It was scary. Obviously. The body was on the path to their tribe, which was only a fourth of a mile away from Zora’s Domain. A long blood smear meant the body was dragged quite the distance before the killer gave up and left. So was this victim killed in the Domain and then taken all the way out here or were they lead away first?

The sound of pebbles scattering and a grunt of pain caused all of the guards to leap into a defensive stance with their spears raised. They created a barrier around the two heirs, flaring their gills and preparing to strike at the slightest sign of danger.

Footsteps. Someone or something was approaching.

When it turned the corner, they all saw a Zora clutching at their shoulder.

A Zora the color of pure snow.

—

It's the most magical place in Hyrule, and Sheik had it all there—the drugs, the drama, the unabashed violence, and the harm it's done to her and everyone she ever loved.

This mysterious, exotic city lured her in a long time ago and numbed her with a fix for her every desire. Against this landscape, she’s carved out a prosperous career. Through the sheer force of her will, the city has molded and bent before her very eyes, covering her every potential insecurity with false confidence and gaudy excess.

In return, the city has jaded her, stripped her of her humanity, and warped her into an unrecognizable shell of noir-esque dysphoria, washed up on the filthy banks of the outskirt sand dunes. It has brought her to this very moment, waking in the early evening from a haunting dream to find a falcon with a crinkled brown sack clamped in its beak a few feet away from her cot.

The cries of oil-slicked desert birds slowly awaken Sheik from her temporary escape. She lies still for a moment, then extends one hand, which is still trembling with exhaustion. She takes the sack and dumped the content out onto the musty carpet once the falcon takes flight back to its falconer. Before her now lies a mask.

This can only mean one thing—a request from her boss, Kohga, the most dangerous man in the city. Amid historic buildings that have long since fallen into disrepair, the air hangs thick with the scent of roasting coffee and chicory, oysters and spice, whiskey and cigars…and the mafia.

Criminals infest the dunes and broken streets here—penny-ante con men and pickpockets, second storey artists and headcrushers, archers and their molls, whores and their pimps—all scratching and clawing for a leg up, for any advantage, and Kohga had scratched and clawed all the way to the top.

There is only one place in the entire world that provides this exquisite clash of culture and flavor, a tribe that was built on an ongoing battle for territory and power: The Yiga Clan.

And Kohga? Kohga is the top dog.

Because the majority of desert-dwellers are so kind, Kohga’s totalitarian rule over the rundown rat town has been met with little resistance—except from the Gerudo, anyway. Kohga runs a tight ship, in the classic Sheikah style.

Code names reflect an era long past, chilling masks adorn even the lowest-level button man, and polished weapons are the order of the day. Warriors look the part, because Kohga demands it.

Even the most notorious cutthroats have said that when Kohga gets angry, the whole desert drowns in waves of fear. And this, Sheik can certainly attest to.

His hands are the biggest Sheik’s ever seen, and he can hurl any cugine, fella, or made man across the room with barely a flick of his wrist. He’s almost like a rampaging bull—his anger is a raging, unstoppable thing, trampling all in its path. He's a loose cannon who will be your best friend one moment and will order your bloody death without care or remorse the next. His violent acts of persuasion have the entire city in terror.

Sheik has his respect…for now. That could change at a moment's notice. And that’s exactly why she lurched out of bed in an instant, wrestling on fresh robes and putting the mask in place upon her face.

Kohga’s influence has helped her rise to dizzying heights of power, but dragged her back through the gutter to do it. Sheik’s life is a whirlwind, but no matter what terrifying traits Kohga possesses, he is the lesser of two evils, and he made Sheik into who she is today.

A monster.

Kohga became her guardian, protector, and teacher after she fled from her own home.

Her mother and father were always bickering. They lived in a town full of bandits and thieves and cutthroats, all scratching their way to the top. Her father hated it there, but he never left, even during the most aggressive fights. Her mother loved it, as she was one of the most notorious women there, often commissioned to kill other people with her deadly poisons.

There were rumors in the village- there always were. People in the local bar murmured about her mother and why such a nefarious lady would even bother taking in a child. Or, more so, why she kept it alive. She could have killed it once she got the money. After all, her daughter was sold to her.

They talked about her spouse and the fights that kept the whole neighborhood awake and her kills.

They murmured about her father like he was an artifact bound to his wife. How he shouldn’t be there. How they were going to take one of his limbs as treasure once he finally succumbed to the heat.

Everyone said the two of them hated their daughter, but Sheik never believed it. Even when they said it to her face, she never really really believed it.

Sheik remembered so much from when she lived in that musty house they shared. She slept in a small room, bundled up with blankets and carpet. She would watch her mother at night as she worked, waiting for her to look over and smile. That’s all Sheik ever wanted. A sign that there was hidden kindness inside of the woman.

She never did look her way.

It only got worse as years went by. Sheik realized that her parents seemed to be at their happiest with each other when they were talking about how terrible she was. They always agreed when they said how they should have just killed her the moment they got their payment.

Sheik learned really quickly not to cry, at least in public.

At night, she wished for a nice family to come along and adopt her and maybe let her get a puppy. She used to think wishes were stars. So cold, so many…so out of reach.

Instead of discovering a situation right out of a storybook, Sheik became stronger, wiser, faster, and smarter. No one was going to take care of her, so she had to learn to take care of herself.

After finally running away from her parents, she walked for hours through blistering heat and made a home for herself behind a market stall in a larger desert city. There, she was protected from the ultraviolet hell rays. Plus, the carpets sold as merchandise warmed her during the freezing cold nights. And though it was loud and musty, it was home—for a while, at least.

Shortly after arriving, she found a jagged blade half-buried in the waves of golden sand. Sheik didn't know it at the time, but this small piece of metal would become the notorious "sawtooth." An integral part of her persona, the sawtooth—her precious sawtooth—fits in the palm of her hand and has kept every gangster in the Yiga Clan shaking in fear since her introduction.

On the momentous day she met Kohga she was in the middle of something earth-shakingly important...catching a bird for her next dinner.

Eleven-year-old Sheik tackled that bird, cracking its neck right in front of a group of wealthier children. They screamed at the top of their lungs as Kohga laughed, thoroughly amused.

Fascinated, Kohga took the ratty girl in and immediately became her father, instructor, and most of all, Boogeyman. He was a monster—no doubt about it—the sort of monster that elders had warned about. And while Kohga has always been hard on her, consistently pushing Sheik beyond her limits, he also treated her as his own, offering help and encouragement when she needed it most.

Sheik has dedicated her life to Kohga, becoming one of his headcrushers—a messenger of human limbs when he demands it. The sawtooth she so fervently clutched in her hands the day he found her has become her closest ally—an infamous sign of devotion to the man who took her in.

With the doors of her new life opening and the lavish lifestyle of the mob in her reach, Sheik dragged herself up through the muck and the filth and everything that stood in her way. In time, she worked her way up to become Kohga’s Number One headcrusher. This title alone has made her into one of the only girls to achieve it, and she has handled every message job with panache. Being a female in this business means that she, too, wears tribal robes. And symbolic adornments. Even a mask. She dresses the part and watches her back and her life.

She has to be tough. She has to think faster, talk faster. Her jobs have to be ten times more clean and precise than those of any man working in the same field.

Kohga may be a terrifying presence, but he has always stuck up for Sheik when someone disapproved of his decision to make a young girl a headcrusher. In fact, her very first message job had one of these naysayers as its target; she pulled it off with such skill that it sent the others falling to their knees, begging for forgiveness.

Sheik demonstrated her talent with ruthless aggression and cunning intelligence. Beat someone up, you get fear. Beat them with your brains, you get respect. That’s how it works around here.

So far, Sheik has successfully maintained a comparatively low profile—physically, anyway—a useful thing in her chosen profession; anonymity helps when she saws off appendages for a living. Few would guess that Sheik, who blends in and disappears with the crowd, is also Sheik, the hired assassin who lurks in the darkest night terror of those who mess up in this business.

She is a walking nightmare and no one sees her coming.

—

Small. Female. A young female.

Her scales were...strange, to say the least. Unlike any normal Zora, she was a glistening moon-silver color. The pale sunlight was hitting her scales in just the right way to make them glimmer with beautiful iridescent hues. It was as if a regular freshwater Zora was struck by lightning and the bolt bleached them and left them with a striking pelt like crushed diamonds.

She wasn’t completely an anomaly with albinism, though. Deep blue and molten crimson speckled her cheeks, shoulders, fins, and limbs. Most of all, though, her bright red eyes stood out like droplets if warm blood in freshly fallen snow.

Fins stood out from her elbows and ran down her spine, and she had a tail fin on the back of her head like most Zoras; it resembled one of a dolphin’s. Two webbed frills were in the place of where ears would be. Serrated, curved claws hooked each finger and toe, which were so sharp she might accidentally cut herself if she clutched any tighter to her shoulder.

“She’s hurt.” Mipha said.

The blood practically glows on the shimmering scales. A blade is lodged in the Zora’s shoulder, which is definitely taking its toll on her, as she’s breathing raggedly and her gills are opening and closing rapidly.

“Who are you?” Bazz asked, pointing his spear at the wounded stranger.

The Zora snaps her head up, looking significantly bewildered and confused, like she hadn’t realized they were even there. She blinks a few times to clear up her spotted vision.

“Sheik.” She croaked.

“I’ve never seen a white Zora around her before.” The guard continued.

“I wasn’t raised in the Domain.” Sheik grits, “I was stolen by human tribes and raised by their village, so you already know how that must have went. I was TRYING to rekindle with my kind, but-“

She coughs and blood splatters out to the ground. Sidon and Mipha both muscle past the guards to aid the fallen Zora.

“Don’t speak.” Mipha said, “It’ll only make it hurt more. You can explain later.”

“Gruve, go alert the elders that we’re bring her in.” Sidon said to the guard, who nodded and hurried away.

The wounded Zora is slipping fast. Sidon has to hold her up so she wouldn’t collapsed and push the blade in further. Despite his efforts, she still blacks out into a fit of unconsciousness.

———

There is a roll of thunder. Pain surges through Sheik’s body.

“She’s waking up!”

The pain is overwhelming.

“She’s alive!”

The coppery tang of blood is still fresh on Sheik’s tongue. She forces her eyes open to see at least five Zoras staring down at her. She screams. Most of them also scream.

The prince and princess shoo the others out, knowing that the wounded Zora was going to need space to collect her thoughts.

“How are you feeling?” Mipha asked.

“Achy,” Sheik grunted, “But alive.”

She hadn’t expected it to hurt that badly. She winces and pressed a hand to her shoulder, where bandages are wrapped around the injured area.

“Thank you.” She dipped her head, “I owe both of you.”

“Nonsense,” Sidon waves a hand dismissively, “It’s our duty to help our people. You can, however, explain what happened.”

“Right.” Sheik sits up fully and winced again, “After I ran away from my village, I took the route that was supposed to go to Zora’s Domain so I could be with my actual tribe. Unfortunately, when I finally got there, I was ambushed. A nearby Zora tried to help fend off the assassin, but he-“ Her ruff folds back, “You saw what happened to him. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Mipha assured her, “Anyone could have been there.”

The heirs were kind. Very kind. They didn’t look at Sheik like she was an intruder, but like she’s been at the Domain her entire life.

Once she was okay to get up, they led her Medicine Pool, stating that “their father requested to speak with her.” While they walked, other Zoras turned to stare.

“Isn’t she the most amazing thing you have ever seen?” One of them whispered.

They thought she was amazing. Her!

“Aww, look,” Another cooed, “She’s happy to see us!”

Sheik couldn’t even stop her tail fin from wagging. It swung around so quickly she nearly slapped herself in the face a few times.

Within the throne room she was taken to was the Zora King. Despite his hulking size, he greeted Sheik kindly, just like his children did.

“Hello, tiny one.” He said, peering down at her. “What’s your name, and why don’t we know you already?”

“Sheik.” The albino Zora dropped down to one knee, “I was raised in a human tribe.”

There was a small swell of laughter from behind, where a few Zoras were curiously listening in and watching the newcomer. Sheik looked over her shoulder and blinked at them before turning her head forward again. Even King Dorephan and the heirs were laughing. Her ruff folds back.

“You really aren’t from around here,” King Dorephan said, “Stand, tiny one. No need to bow.”

Sheik did as she was asked and got back on her feet.

“Am I...allowed to stay here?” She asked.

King Dorephan smiled kindly.

“Of course. You’re home, now.”

[I]Home.

She’s excused rather quickly after that. No interrogation, no excessive questioning. The only thing King Dorephan wanted to know before sending her on her way was what village had raised her so he could look into it.

Sidon seemed very excited and he volunteered to show the new Zora around. While going across a bridge, the Domain can be seen much more clearly and it was /beautiful/. This is where Sheik was always meant to be. Sidon noticed her awestruck expression and smiled.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Absolutely.” Sheik murmured.

Zoras are peeking out from the water below, murmuring and chattering to one another. They were all shades of blue or red and sometimes green, but none where the silvery shade Sheik’s scales bore. Even in the faint light, she was shimmering. When her head turned, a rainbow glowed across her neck and gawkers cooed.

“You have some fans,” Sidon said, “Maybe you’ll choose a mate one day. Not right now, though. You’re too young. But there are definitely some females here that would be a good match.”

Sheik stopped and blinked at him.

“A female?”

Sidon blinked at her, too. Then, he laughed loudly.

“Oh, little one. You REALLY think you would match with a male?”

Did he just out her by simply looking at her? Well, he wasn’t wrong, at least.

“What if it’s like my sister or something? Is there a way to tell who’s related to who?” Sheik asked.

Sidon tapped his chin with one talon.

“Not really. You just know. But with you...I don’t think you have any siblings. At least they’re not here. Unless you happened to be not only the runt, but also the only albino of your clutch. Because I’ve never seen a Zora like you before.”

Oh, wonderful, she’s a runt, too. Not that it seemed like a bad thing.

“I see.” Sheik nodded.

They stepped onto one of the coves, where a pod of Zoras are splashing around in the water. Most of them are still pups. Sheik tilts her head at them.

“What are they doing?” She asked her guide.

“Catching their dinner.” Sidon chuckled, “Go give it a shot!”

“Catching...a fish? Right. Yeah. I can do that.”

Sheik stepped into the water and the Zora pups looked excited to see her standing next to them. She glanced at them then looked down, focusing on some fish swimming nearby. She held still for a moment, jumped forward, and missed.

She whirled around, looking very confused and startled. Then, she tried again, missing even more than the first time. On the third try, she hauled her clumsy body all the way underwater and still managed to catch only sand.

Amused laughter swells through the group. It’s not the humiliating kind, though. It actually makes Sheik laugh, too, and she tries again.

Eventually, does manage to catch a fish, but it slips right through her claws. That couldn’t be fair.

“They’re slippery!” Sidon called from the bay.

Sheik readied herself and dove again. She overestimated her speed and smashed her face directly into the sand below. She resurfaced with a sputter and then attacked again, snatching up a daring fish who got too close. Victory was short lived. The tail slapped her in the face and she drops it.

Zora pups are joining in on her horrible hunting method like it was a game. They giggle and holler in glee as they splash and jump around. And, after many trials and errors, Sheik lurches up from the water with a fish clamped tightly in her teeth and arms raised in victory. The group cheers.

The win is, once again, short lived, but at least it isn’t because the fish got away.

A hunched, deep blue Zora approaches. He’s clenching his jaw and glaring at Sheik.

“Cheering for a Zora who can’t even catch a fish? Really now? Have we really stooped this low?”

Sheik is more confused than offended. Her ruff spreads outwards, almost like she’s trying to look bigger.

“Stop it, Jiahto.” Sidon said, coming to his new friend’s aid, “She wasn’t raised the right way. It’s not her fault she doesn’t know how to be a Zora.”

Jiahto scoffed. He sizes Sheik up, like he honestly thought he could take her in a possible brawl. He was old and brittle; Sheik would have him gutted before he could even raise his claws.

“She claims to be one of us. She isn’t. She won’t ever be.” He locks eyes with the albino Zora, “Stick to your humans and villages, girl. This is not your home.”

Sidon flares his gills at the grouchy Zora, who eventually sidles off to pester someone else. He turns back to Sheik with an apologetic expression.

“Ignore him. He’s always like this to new people.” He said before smiling slightly, “Oh, hey, I should show you the best diving spot in all of Zora’s Domain! It’s wonderful. Follow me!”

Sheik was hesitant, but didn’t want to disappoint her new friend, so she follows. A few other Zoras come, too, including Mipha.

“How are you feeling?” The older Zora asked.

“Fine, actually,” Sheik admitted, “This place- It’s so amazing.”

“It’s your home now.” Mipha smiled. “Don’t forget it.”

Sheik definitely wasn’t going to.

The pod of Zoras stopped on top of a very tall cliff overlooking the Domain. Getting up there was difficult, as the rocks were slick and slippery from drizzling rain, but it was worth the climb. Whorls of grey and deep blue swirled in the sky, threatening, yet beautiful. Silver droplets looked like diamonds falling from the clouds. Zora’s Domain looked like it was made from crystal, glistening under the shower.

The view alone made the trip worth it, but there was more, apparently.

“Who wants to go first?” Sidon asked.

“I will!” Tona volunteered and walked over to the edge of the cliff. She turned to face the pod, spread her arms, and fell backwards like a deadweight.

Sheik almost yelped in shock. She had to dig her talons into the grooves in the stone so she wouldn’t run to the edge to make sure Tona was okay.

Second later there was a cry of joy and Tona’s voice calling the others to come join her. She was perfectly fine. Of course she was.

Tula’s eyes lit up and she took a running start before jumping, like she was cannonballing into a safe pool and not possible sharp rock crags. For a moment, she almost looked like she was spiraling out of control until her fins seemed to catch wind and she twisted into a graceful dive.

Marot and Gruve followed suit. Mipha was going to jump off on her own, but Sidon pushed her over the edge before diving. They were all laughing, having fun, away from the worries in the outside world. All of their colors were a beautiful contrast to the dark water. It was a nice sight from where Sheik was standing.

Yes, standing.

She was the only one left on the cliff and hasn’t even made a move to go jump. She felt a lot safer on the nice, hard, stable ground.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of swimming, but-

“Sheik, come on!” Tula beckoned.

“I’m good!” Sheik called back. She put her hands behind her back and rocked back and forth on her heels. She preferred to just watch because-

“See, if you didn’t have gills, then we would understand why you haven’t joined us yet,” Gruve says loudly so his voice could reach the albino’s ears, “But you DO have gills! So you’ll be fine!”

Yes, but-

“Come on, Sheik!”

“Really, I’m good!”

“Why?” Mipha asked, tilting her head.

Sheik paused long enough for the pod to start talking to each other out of earshot. She still decided to answer.

“Well, I can’t-“

There was a heavy blow against her back that sent her reeling right over the edge of the cliff. Maybe from one of the pups who followed them up there.

“-I can’t swim!!”

There it was.

Sheik plummeted

down

down

down, right into the black water below.

She desperately flapped her fins like they were wings and she was a drunk duck, to no avail. She was praying to the goddesses that this would end like the scrolls where the hero learns how to do something they couldn’t do before and got out of the mess they made, but that’s not what happened.

She fell weightlessly. Life began to flash before Sheik’s eyes, surely thinking she was about to die. Parts of her were happy for the sweet relief of death, as it would be a painful, gory punishment for her sins, but the other part was screaming and crying that she didn’t want to die yet. She still had to pay back all the karma she owed. She could turnout good.

But she would never know as the ground approached quicker and Sheik sobbed, feeling rocks impale her thin body, ripping open her scales and spilling her guts out in every direction...

That’s the gruesome demise she would have met if the rocks weren’t imaginary.

What felt like an eternity of falling was actually just a few seconds before she smacked the surface of the water, making the pod go “oooh” in sympathy. She still sunk and, even though she had gills, it still made her panic. Sidon wrenches her upwards with ease.

“You can’t swim?” Gruve sputtered, flabbergasted.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Marot said, “Is that what’s wrong with you?”

Sheik looked at her strangely before sighing.

“Surprise! I never learned how to swim! I really hate my old village.”

The village exchanged looks before going to shore. They all apologize to Sheik, who tells them not to worry about it. She is slightly, embarrassed, though. Who’s ever heard of a Zora that can’t swim?

“Well, I bet there’s something you can do,” Mipha said, trying to make her feel better. “You had a harp when you arrived. Can you play?”

She smiled at the way Sheik’s ruff perked up.

“That I can do!”

And she did. She demonstrated her musical talent for the Zoras in the center of the Domain, playing an ancient song called the Serenade of Water. While she did, she thought the tribe was cooing and chirping and trilling and clicking along with her until the whole Domain was resonating with a beautiful melody.

Just then, Sheik realized this is where she wanted to be.

———

Jiahto had been right. Zora’s Domain was not Sheik’s home. And yet it’s been a week and she’s still there, thriving with her new tribe.

Something wakes her one night. A feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was because of the falcon stooping a few feet away.

It’s the middle of the night. Lanterns outside Sheik’s den and resting pool are dim, helping the serenity of night whisk through the Domain without any intrusive bright firelight. Sheik’s surprised to not see any guards along the paths or bridge, which she crosses silently. The falcon is guiding her and she obediently follows.

The walk she takes is long. Rainy season is in full swing and with it comes a natural chill. The falcon and her find refuge in a short, rocky tunnel, where another is taking shelter.

“Sheik.” He said gruffly.

“Tei.” She responded, not looking his way.

“You’re spending an awful long time here, don’t you think?”

“What do you want? You couldn’t be here to just criticize me, right?”

Tei grits his teeth beneath his mask.

“I’m here to give you this. Master Kohga didn’t expect you to take this long.” He thrusts a small, tinted vial into Sheik’s hands. “Trust me, I didn’t want anything to do with you.”

“Oh, how brave of you.” Sheik spat. “Leave now. I don’t need your assistance.”

“I was never going to give it to a wretch like you.” Tei said while the girl was already walking back out into the storm, downing the fluids in the vial.

It's early morning, now, and Sheik already has one of those headaches, the ones that feel like her skull is about to burst open. A familiar depressive feeling decides only then to hit her with one of those episodes.

Her alcove and sleeping area is only lit by any light that might creep in from the outside. Rain is pounding heavily.

The world outside is still dark, the streets mainly empty, aside from a few guards already on posts. The city has not woken from its slumber yet. For a moment, the sound of the storm overwhelms everything else—the soft caws of distant birds, the whispering wind, her own breath. There is nothing in the world but this raging thunderstorm and the water falling on the den’s overhang.

Sheik catches a glimpse of her face in the sea glass mirror on the wall.

The light makes her eyes look hollow.

Eventually, she fully wakes. Time has passed and more Zoras are awake, not phased by the thunderstorm. Sheik gets up, and exhaustion seems to be bred into her bones. She doesn’t know why.

Something is going on out on the bride. Sidon and Mipha look worried. Sheik approaches them curiously.

“What’s going on?” She asked.

“Another body was spotted.” Mipha answered somberly. “We were just about to go and check it out.”

Sheik nodded and decided to go along with them. When they arrived at the destination, she was nauseous.

There, lying at their feet, was Tei’s barely-recognizable corpse. His face is horribly disfigured from brutal scrapes and claw marks, and the inside of his throat is completely exposed, slashed deep into with the esophagus hanging out.

“A Hylian?” One of the guards murmur. “What did this?”

“I have no idea,” Sidon said quietly.

Sheik doesn’t know either.

Not until she looks up and she sees the falcon perched nearby, blood still soaked on its talons.

It was hard to stop thinking about. That falcon. But then Sidon offered to go out for a swim (by swim he meant somewhere shallow enough for her to stand in, as she was still learning) and it suddenly left her mind.

“Zora 101!” The prince states, perched on top of a rock in a watery grove they had swam to. “No offense, but you don’t really act like a normal Zora. No big deal. I’ll help you learn!”

“Like what?” Sheik asked, floating below him.

Sidon jumps back in next to her and grinned widely.

“I’m glad you asked!” He beamed, “Lesson one! Intimidation. You gotta flare your gills, bare your teeth, and raise your fins! The best way to intimidate, though, is to threaten to bite off your foe’s claws.”

Sheik looked very confused.

“I’m sorry- what?”

“You heard me. Here, try it. Say you’re going to bite off my claws.”

The albino Zora blinked and then said, “I’m going to bite off your claws!”

“Now do it!”

Too sucked in to question him, she does as she’s told. Sidon sucker punches her.

“Ow!” Sheik yelped, “What was that for?!”

“That was a trick! You never try to bite a Zora who just LETS you do it. They’re planning on attack back! Remember that. It’ll be very important one day.”

“Yeah okay,” Sheik mumbled, rubbing her jaw. “What’s next?”

“Territory.” Sidon said, “Have you ever marked anything?”

Sheik shook her head.

“...Do you even know where your scent glands are?”

Sheik shook her head again.

“I’m going to kill that village you were forced to live in,” Sidon assured her. “We have scent glands in our claws and upper gills. See, we mark things by scratching them.”

He wades through the water and stops in front of a rock.

“Mark this.”

Sheik shrugged and went to scratch the rock. Sidon grabs her tail fin before she could even touch it and made a buzzer sound.

“That was another trick! I’ve already marked that rock. My scent’s on it. It would be disrespectful to mark over something I have claimed.”

He swam around her and clambered up onto the rock.

“Can’t you smell my scent?”

“I mean, YEAH, but I didn’t realize it was on the rock!”

“Pay attention next time!” Sidon says with a grin. Sheik can’t help but laugh. “And now for our final lesson of the day! Pineconing.”

“Excuse me- What? Is that even a word?”

“Come on, do it!” Sidon encourages, “Pinecone! Pinecone! Pinecone!”

“Why are you screaming ‘pinecone’ at me?!” Sheik cried.

The prince blinked at her and then laughed.

“It’s a really cool ability we Zoras can do! See, first you focus and then you...”

Suddenly, all of his scales retracted, literally bristling and standing on edge. He actually looked like an actual pinecone. If a pinecone had a tail and fins and was red, but a pinecone nonetheless!

“Woah!” Sheik gasped. “That’s amazing! And kinda weird.” She could see the flesh underneath, after all.

Sidon laughed and smoothed his scales.

“You try!”

“How...?”

“You know, just, like...” Sidon flutters his hands but even he seems to be lost. “Well...believe in yourself?”

Sheik laughed and then nodded. She tried to tap into her dormant genes and...pinecone. It worked, eventually, but she was startled in the process when her scales lurched up. Sidon chortled and clapped his hands.

“Wonderful! You’ll know everything in no time. For now, though, class over!”

—

Sheik doesn’t know if it’s a side effect from the concoction or if she’s come down with something, but she’s constantly feeling physically sick. She distracts herself from the nausea by thinking back to the good old days.

Because there had been good days, right?

If not, there were now. She was happy in Zora’s Domain. She was happy with Mipha and Sidon and felt like she was safe and actually belonged there.

It felt like the family she had always wished for.

How much of life is simply that, though? Actually getting what you wish for? That fighting against the unknowability of the world in its entirety, the unknowability of others? Their desires, their experiences, what it is like to be them.

Can you ever truly know anyone?

Can you ever stop trying?

Sheik’s come to know this city well. And that must sound silly because it hasn’t even been a month, but it’s true. She knows its colors the way she knows the color of her eyes, the color of her skin. She knows its smells, its sounds, its tics and vices. And she knows its streets the way she knows the scars on the inside of her arm.

It’s home in an odd sort of way. Just like how she always wanted.

But, just like everything else in her life, it got ruined.

A brute in a mask entered the Domain four days after Tei’s body showed up dead. Sheik was busying herself by chatting with a friendly female Zora named Tona. When she looked up, she saw him staring at her, not phased by the guards.

Then, he lunged.

He moved like a wild animal. One with rabies.

Sheik tried to flee but he tackled her before she could even take ten steps. She kicks and claws but he doesn’t let up. He’s screaming at her, screaming that she was worthless and was a traitor.

At first, she doesn’t feel the pain. But then her gills contract and she’s suddenly coughing on blood. The sensation is overwhelming. It’s a white, hot agony that’s so severe it doesn’t even let her cry.

Sidon comes barreling into the man. He yanks him off of Sheik’s writhing body and seized him by the throat. The anger in his eyes is startling.

A crack and pop resonated through the air. Sidon drops the brute and then lunged down to Sheik’s side. His hands hover over her bloody gills. Some of it floods out, some of it leaks back in, and some of it is frothing from Sheik’s mouth.

“You have to turn them inside out,” He tells her hurriedly, cradling her head above the hard ground.

“Wh-at?” Sheik sputters, “I d-on’t know what th-at means.”

Sidon grimaced. Zoras are watching in fear, unsure on what to do. Mipha has already went to get their father.

“I’ll do it then. It’s going to hurt, though.” Sidon finally decided.

Sheik had expected pain, but not as much as she was faced with when Sidon stuck his claws into her gills. Her entire body went rigid and she clenched her jaw, screaming through gritted teeth. It felt gross and uncomfortable and so, so painful, but she had to remind herself that he was only trying to help her. Not everyone wanted to cause her harm.

The smaller gills on her neck open up and suddenly she’s able to breathe again. The slits along her torso are pineconed, which looks a lot grosser than she was expecting. The blood is dribbling out, no longer filtering into her lungs or stomach. She gasps and then coughed, curling in on herself slightly.

“Thanks,” She grits.

“No problem,” Sidon sighed in relief, “You’re not home free yet. Someone is gonna have to see how much damage is done.”

Sheik nodded and swallowed thickly, relaxing in his comforting touch. She looked up at him and croaked out:

“I’m sorry.”

Sidon looked confused.

“This wasn’t your fault.”

Sheik shook her head weakly.

“I’m sorry.”

———

Most of the Yiga Clan was surprised to see that Sheik returned. Kohga was pleased. Especially when the decapitated head of Prince Sidon was dropped at his feet, still warm and bleeding at the severed neck.

“Just like you asked.” Sheik said, bowing before her boss.

“That’s my Sheik,” Kohga says. “Rise, girl. Accept your payment. You’ve done me very well.”

Sheik does so obediently. She smiled, knowing she was home.

•

•

•

The air is thick and cold from the storm. This doesn’t stop Sheik from hunting down her target- a Hylian man who refused to pay up to Kohga. He’s not hidden in the forest and Sheik makes quick work of him by leaping from the branches and snapping his neck. It didn’t end there, though. She slices down his belly, pulled out his small intestines, and strung him from a tree with him like a suicide victim, just like how Kohga had asked.

She steps back to admire her handiwork, rolling her arm around in its socket. At first she didn’t think such a clean neck break would have been possible- her shoulder was still sore from when she stabbed herself. Although, at least it wasn’t as bad as her torso, which was still healing.

From the tree line, she hears splashing in the river nearby. A crimson Zora emerges from the water, speaking to a nearby member of his tribe. If they were still searching for the washed out red Zora’s head, then they were never going to find it. Not with the spell casted on it, at least.

Sheik downs a vial she had snatched from the alchemist’s tent, waited for the effects to change her, and then went to greet Sidon.


End file.
